Singapore — Lawyer and opposition politician Lim Tean who is leading a legal challenge to government policies said to discriminate against the unvaccinated says, “many people” have asked him for the court documents.
Specifically, the legal complaint is against the Multi-ministry Task Force (MTF), Manpower Ministry (MOM), and Health Ministry (MOH) for ruling that from Jan 1, employers can sack employees unvaccinated by choice and that since Dec 8, people unvaccinated by choice have to pay their own medical bills if they get sick from Covid-19.
Mr Lim, who is the founder and leader of the People’s Voice party, posted screenshots on his Facebook page announcing he had filed a Judicial Review application challenging MTF, MOM, and MOH’s directives from Oct 23 and Nov 8, specifically “that from 1st January 2022, employers may terminate those employees who are unvaccinated, and that from 8 December 2021, unvaccinated persons by choice will have to bear their own medical costs if they fall ill due to Covid-19.”
The screenshots come from a statement by his firm, Carson Law Chambers, which is acting for the plaintiffs who have registered with the sociopolitical blog TR Emeritus (TRE).
Mr Lim announced on Monday (Dec 27) that his firm had filed the review on behalf of Han Hui Hui, Sng Su Hui, Yeo Sheau Yuen, Lim Beng Kwang, Lawrence Simon Anthony, and Muhammad Faizal Bin Mustafa. All six are unvaccinated.
He claims the application is “grounded not on hypothesis but on cold hard facts”, with the applicants using statistics from MOH’s daily updates on the pandemic, which ended on Dec 7, “to prove their case of discrimination against the unvaccinated”.
The applicants seek to have the MTF, MOM, and MOH’s directives from Oct 23 and Nov 8 quashed, as well as to have it declared “that those directives are unlawful and/or irrational”.
They also seek similar orders that they have “a substantial legitimate expectation that they would not be at risk of having their employment terminated because of their unvaccinated status, and that the government would bear their medical bills should they fall ill because of Covid-19”.
Mr Lim followed up on Tuesday (Dec 28) with another Facebook post that “many people” had asked for the court documents for the legal challenge.
He posted the Statement filed in the Judicial Review Proceedings, which he said he was at liberty to share.
“I think the Statement gives you a very good idea of the Applicants’ case,” he added.
TRE had announced last month that it had been collecting data and collaborating with litigants – all unvaccinated against Covid-19 – and who “feel that they have been gravely discriminated against and inconvenienced, even to the extent of possibly losing their livelihood”.
They then launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover legal fees for the JUDICIAL challenge.
TRE posted the document from Mr Lim on its website to announce that the class action suit against the MTF, MOM and MOH had been officially filed.
“The documents have been served on the Attorney-General’s Chambers and a pre-Trial conference has been scheduled for 12 January 2022 at 9.30 am.”
It said the suit originally involved 20 litigants, but several decided not to join the suit – which TRE put down to “mostly peer pressure” but would support it in other ways. Several of the original 20 were taken off as they decided to get vaccinated. /TISG